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Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing I tell you! All the characters, places etc. belong to JKR.
*** HAPPILY EVER AFTER?
*** Hermione walked into the kitchen of the Cottage, shaking slightly. "Uh, Harry, I need to speak to you in private." She looked at Ron who shrugged as if to say 'don't mind me'. "Ron, out!" ordered Ginny. Seeing the glare from his sister, Ron put down the spoon he had been using to stir the soup and cast a quick look at the simmering mixture before following Ginny out of the kitchen. As Ginny closed the door behind them, leaving Harry and Hermione in private, Ron asked, "What's all that about? If my soup boils over, I am going to curse you." "You wouldn't dare," said Ginny with an innocent smile. "Anyway, what Hermione wants to say is between her and Harry." "Can I at least listen at the door?" Ron whined. "No! That's rude. I'm ashamed of you, Ron. I'm ashamed that I didn't think of it sooner." With a grin aimed towards her brother, Ginny stood closer to the door, trying to hear what was being said in the kitchen. Ron quickly followed her actions, not wanting to miss anything. "Hermione, what is it?" asked Harry worriedly. Just by looking at her he could tell that she was distressed and clearly worried about something. "I think you should sit down," said Hermione quietly, looking at the floor. "We need to talk." "For a start, I am sitting down, and we are talking. Hermione, relax. Tell me what's the matter." Hermione took a deep breath. "Ginny went to the Apothecary." "I already knew that." "No, I mean she spoke to the owner of the Apothecary, who, by the way, used to be a top doctor at St. Mungo's," Hermione explained. Harry still wasn't sure what she was going on about. "What exactly does that mean?" "That means that Mrs Prattle is pretty much accurate with her diagnosis's." "And what was her diagnosis?" asked Harry curiously. Obviously what Mrs Prattle had told Ginny was upsetting her. Hermione bit her lip, still staring intently at the floor. She heard a hiss as Ron's soup boiled over. "That I'm pregnant." "That doesn't make sense," said Harry, standing up, so that he could get closer to Hermione. "The doctors said that the chances of us having children are slim to none. We weren't even trying." Hermione ran a hand through her hair, which she realised, was in dire need of a trim. "I know it doesn't. I never even considered that I might be pregnant until Ginny said that to me. It was probably bottom of my list of possible problems. Heck, I don't even think it was on my list!" "Do you think she could be right?" asked Harry quietly, standing directly in front of Hermione, who still wouldn't meet his eyes and was currently twisting her wedding ring round her finger. "Stop that," he instructed, taking hold of her hands. She looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears. "There's only one way to find out," she said quietly. Harry nodded, understanding. He dropped his hold of her hands and walked back over to the table where his wand was lying, nestled among the daily papers. He walked back over to her, holding it nervously in his hand. "Are you ready for this?" he asked. She nodded, and sniffed. "Yes, I think so." She pulled up her pale blue T-shirt to reveal her stomach, which was still slightly tanned from their summer in Australia. Harry placed the tip of his wand about an inch or so above her belly button, and looked Hermione in the eyes. "Maternus revelae," they muttered in unison. At first nothing seemed to happen, but after a few second, an ethereal blue glow emanated from Hermione's stomach, and there also seemed to be a slightly more concentrated area of blue on her lower abdomen. Hermione inhaled sharply, and the blue glow faded after a few moments. They stood there in silence for a few moments. A solitary tear ran down Hermione's cheek. "We're going to be parents," she whispered hoarsely. Harry nodded, feeling these amazing emotions begin to build up inside him. This was even better than winning the Quidditch World Cup or getting married. He kissed Hermione gently, a huge grin forming on his face. "I'm going to be a father," he said in an amazed whisper. "I'm going to be a father," he said, louder again. Then he yelled it. "I'm going to be a father!" Hermione laughed slightly, and they heard a loud thud just outside the kitchen door. Wondering what the noise was, and having their sneaky suspicious, Harry and Hermione went to the door to investigate. Upon opening the door, they found a happy looking Ginny crouched over Ron trying to revive him; he had fainted. "I'm not cleaning this up, you know," said Parvati, surveying the large collection of bridal magazines and scraps of material that covered the floor. She placed the tall glasses of pumpkin juice on the coffee table and then sank onto the sofa. Padma looked up at her twin from her seat on the floor, a magazine open on her lap, then looked around. "I think I'm getting a headache," she moaned, placing a hand on her forehead. "Why don't you just get Draco to help you?" Parvati asked. Padma had started planning her and Draco's wedding two weeks before and she had been doing all the planning without any help from Draco. "Because I don't want his help. This is my job." "Surely you don't mean that!" "I do. Anyway, if I let him help he'll take over completely. He's an all or nothing kinda guy." Parvati shuddered. "Okay, creepy mental pictures there." She studied her sister intently. "What do you see in him?" she asked. "You're still not used to the idea of me marrying him, are you?" asked Padma sadly, closing the magazine, and joining her sister on the sofa. Parvati shook her head, avoiding her sister's eye contact in case she offended her. Padma bit her lower lip. "I don't mind. You were a Gryffindor - I can understand you hating him. He was in Slytherin, after all." "See, that's where you were lucky being in Ravenclaw - there were no major house rivalries." "Huh," scoffed Padma. "As if. We weren't exactly Switzerland, you know. Half the house thought Gryffindor were better than Slytherin. The other half thought Slytherin was better." "And what about you?" inquired Parvati. "I didn't care. My friends were all Ravenclaw's, except for you and Hermione. And I didn't know Herm that well until sixth year." She paused for a moment. "Did you honestly ever think that she'd get married to Harry? Or were you one of the one's who thought she was destined to be with Ron?" Parvati blushed heavily. "I actually thought she'd end up with Ron until they broke up. Then in seventh year I helped get Harry and Hermione together!" Padma smirked. "And what about you?" she asked. "What about me?" asked Parvati, draining the last of her pumpkin juice. "You and Dean. Are you ever going to settle down?" Parvati groaned. She had been plagued with this question ever since Padma and Draco had become engaged, their mother pressuring her and Dean to settle down. "We're not ready to settle down!" she whined. "I'm only like, twenty! If mother had her way we'd be married with a child by now! Think of the stretch marks!" "I'd rather not, thanks," giggled Padma. She pulled her wand out of the pocket of her forest green robes and flicked it lazily, saying a quick cleaning spell as she did so. The bridal magazines flew into a large pile beside the coffee table and the scraps of material folded themselves neatly. "So what's it going to be called?" "What's what going to be called?" "Your first child," said Parvati solemnly. "Can I be Godmother?" "Hold up! We're not even married yet!" protested Padma, almost spilling some pumpkin juice on the cream coloured carpet. "We're not having children yet!" "But you will." "Yes, probably in the distant future. Not right this second. Can we not talk about my love life?" "Only if we don't talk about my love life," agreed Parvati. Padma nodded and Parvati grinned wickedly. "What about Ron and Lav's love life." "When do you think he's going to propose?" asked Padma, eagerly, vaguely recalling the time during fourth year where she had been his date for the Yule Ball. It hadn't been a great success, and while they had dated briefly at the start on fifth year, they had made a joint decision never to talk about it. "I think he's the sentimental kind - Valentine's day," Parvati said thoughtfully. "Really? I pictured him more of the 'spur-of-the-moment' kinda guy," said Padma. "Nah, not Ron. The poor guy would be too nervous. I bet he'll have it all planned out - he'll probably memorise a speech or something." "I bet he'd faint if they found out she was pregnant!" said Padma, giggling again. There was something about conversations between just her and her sister that made her more giggly. "I think they're going to have five or six," mused Parvati. "Kids?! No. They'll have seven." "Can you really imagine Lavender being pregnant seven times?" "I can't imagine her being pregnant once!" admitted Padma. "I think he's having an affair," said Ginny sadly. "What makes you think that?" asked Hermione. "He's always at the office!" exclaimed Ginny, throwing her hands up in the air. She sank into a chair opposite the table from Hermione. ""He's barely ever home and when he is he's to tired to do anything." Hermione pulled a face. "I didn't want to know that!" she told Ginny. "Grow up, Hermione. I didn't mean that!" Ginny frowned. "Then again, maybe that's why he's so tired." "Have you even thought about asking him?" Hermione inquired, looking up from her large glass of water. When Ginny shook her head, Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well why don't you?" "Because I'm afraid he's going to lie to me." "So you'd rather you never spoke to him." "Yes. No. Oh, I don't know!" Ginny was getting annoyed with herself. "What if I accuse him and I'm wrong?" She rubbed the space between her eyes in frustration. "It could ruin our relationship." "I can't imagine Seamus cheating on you," Hermione said. "It's obvious he's in love with you." Ginny looked at her sceptically. "You really think so?" Hermione nodded enthusiastically. Ginny sighed. "I don't know how to approach him," she said quietly. The sound of the front door could be heard opening, and a second later Seamus's Irish brogue rang through the house in his standard greeting. "Hi, honey! I'm home!" "Now's your chance," Hermione said grinning, standing up. "I have to go." Her smile growing even more she added, "Me and Harry are going shopping?" It had been a week since Hermione had discovered she was pregnant, and Harry had taken the prospect of being a father very seriously indeed. He had become incredibly sweet and romantic towards Hermione, so much in fact it was almost nauseating. Hermione had scolded him several times for being too overprotective. Ginny smiled, but then realised that meant Hermione leaving was a chance for her to talk to Seamus. Frowning deeply, she bade Hermione farewell as she Disapparated and Seamus strolled into the kitchen of the Cottage, the jacket of his suit slung over his shoulder. "Hi, Ginny," he said brightly, placing his jacket over the back of a chair. He kissed her cheek. "How's your day been?" Ginny shrugged morosely. "Seamus, I think we need to talk." "About what?" Seamus was clearly confused by Ginny's statement, and his brow was creased with worry. "Have I done something wrong? Did I forget your birthday?" "No, you idiot. You didn't forget my birthday." Ginny sighed and looked up at Seamus who was stood beside her. "It's about work." "Is Eva working you too hard?" he asked, concerned. She winced. "No, not my work. Your work." She locked eyes with him. "You're constantly working there for unnatural hours and you never talk about your work either. It occurred to me yesterday that I don't even know what you do for a living!" "Ah." Seamus bit his lip and sat down at the table, opposite Ginny. He held her hands across the table and stared at her for a moment. "I should have know I couldn't keep it from you forever, Ginny. My work is kind of secretive." "I guessed that," said Ginny snidely, wrenching her hands away from Seamus. Seamus bowed his head. After a moment of consideration, he took a deep breath and began. A/N: Again, another cliffhanger! I couldn't help it - it just happened. Oh, well. Please review. Here's a thanks section for Chapter Eleven:
Review, Flame, Whatever. silverphoenix |
Happily Ever After?
By: silvernatasha
***COMPLETED*** The sequel to 'So What Now?'. After seven years at Hogwarts the gang are ready for the real world, but is the real world ready for them?
Rated: Fiction K+ - English - Romance/Humor - Harry P., Hermione G. - Chapters: 21 - Words: 50,369 - Reviews: 458 - Favs: 74 - Follows: 9 - Updated: Oct 31, 2002 - Published: Mar 20, 2002 - Status: Complete - id: 669417
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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